


Unexpected

by thegingfriendstandsforgay



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime), 鬼滅の刃 | Kimetsu no Yaiba (Manga)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:00:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29595222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegingfriendstandsforgay/pseuds/thegingfriendstandsforgay
Summary: A firebender blessed by Agni arrives to the demon slaying scene.
Kudos: 3





	Unexpected

Soza awoke to the single-handedly most disturbing sentences she had ever heard in her life.

“A cute human girl ready to be eaten by old me? I didn’t even need to find one tonight!” Either this was a cannibal, or a seriously deranged sicko.

Eyes still shut, she focused on the heat signatures surrounding her. She detected a particularly cold one approaching. The coldness of his heat signature alarmed her. No human could survive being that cold. What exactly was she dealing with? And why was she outside? The last thing she could remember was lifting her velvet blanket sheets closer to her face before dozing off.

Just as the unknown entity was about to leer over her, she used her legs to flip a ring of orange fire, sending the figure far back into a line of trees. Her golden eyes adjusted to the darkness of the night. Did someone kidnap her?

“Huh, what a unusual human..all the more reasons to devour you!”, the figure exclaimed, running to her at an extremely fast rate.

The moonlight revealed something that was definitely not human. It had horns protruding from its head, was a sickly gray color, bulging veins, and waved... multiple arms? Its pupils were also slitted and a sickly yellow.

Soza froze in terror. Where was Aang, official mediator between spirits and humans, when you needed him?

She barely dodged one of the spirit's arms as it sunk its claws in the ground she once stood on. Withdrawing its arm, it left a decent sized hole as it retracted its claws.

"You're awfully fast for girl", the spirit mused. Soza sweatdropped. What was it with this spirit and girls? "No matter, I'll just kill you like the others!", it said before breaking out to a crazed grin.

This spirit was not out for fun. _What if this sprit was let loose in the palace?_ It could hurt the rest of her family. With that thought, she quickly shot a burst of white fire, aiming directly at its eyes. The figure stumbled before crying out in pain.

“What the fuck did you do to me little girl?”, it groaned while ~~clawing~~ rubbing its eyes. 

_Where are the Kyoshi warriors? I can't detect their heat signatures from here._ The angered yell of the spirit shook her from her thoughts.

She struck the earth with her foot, bringing a stream of hot lava to her aid. As the spirit blindly dodged and twisted in fury, she bended the lava to wrap around the spirit's many arms and legs, hoping to restrain it before help arrived.

The spirit screamed in pain. “Damn you! What the hell is wrong with you? How can a weak human, a girl no less, lay a finger on me!”, it roared. 

Soza rolled her eyes. So she was dealing with a sexist spirit. She couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for said sprit before adding more heat to the lava restraints. This particular bending move was thanks to Katara and her water whips. _Speaking of Katara, didn't she say she was coming for a visit in a couple of days? Maybe she can-_

A new heat signature had Soza alert. She sighed in relief when she noticed it was extremely warm- _finally, some help._ Expecting a Kyoshi warrior or another fire bender with that intense heat, she felt disappointed when she saw an unfamiliar man standing. His hair was a striking mix of orange and yellow, the tips and ends being red and black. He appeated much older than Soza, perhaps thirty or so. His clothing was also strange- it was a black colored uniform, with a white cape. He was unlike any person she had seen.

“Young girl, thank you for restraining this demon. I will finish the rest from here”, he said. His voice was deep and firm. But spirits were Aang’s thing, weren’t they? The gleam of a sword had her eyes widen.

“Wait, the Avatar can help with this. This spirit might be lost-“

“Girl, this is no spirit. It’s a man eating monster”, he replied, but not unkindly. It was like he was use to this.

“This demon has been terrorizing the town nearby. He’s been killing girls around your age” _Man-eating monster? Girls my age?_ Soza was only 13...

It made sense. Considering the spirit- no demon’s actions, words, and obvious intent toward her. But still… Before she could withdraw her lava, the man had already leapt forward ( _how did he get_ _so fast_??) and cleanly cut the head off. Soza immediately let go of her lava, the substance promptly cooling. She heard something flickering, and gasped in shock at the sight of the ~~spirit~~ demon’s body disintegrating.

“No! Fu-“, the demon's voice was cut off by the rapid disintegration. Soza watched in horror and fascination as the body was reducing to nothing.

“Why..why did you do that?”, she carefully asked. She did _not_ want to get on this man’s bad side. The man sheathed his sword and faced his body towards her. She peered into his eyes. Soza wasn’t even sure her golden eyes could match up to how bright his were. His eyes and everything else told her he was fire nation, but his outwardly appearance said otherwise. No one in all the four nations had hair like that.

“My name is Shinjuro Rengoku and I am a demon slayer. All demons kill and eat humans, something I cannot allow. That demon’s death was necessary. It was tying to eat you, was it not?”

Soza hesitated. _Demon slayer?_ Surely she would have heard of such a thing before.

“I suppose…I’ve never heard of demons before though..”, she trailed off. 

“I could tell you more about them if you tell me how you were restraining it”, he replied. Huh, he drove a hard bargain.

“Could you tell me where I am first? I don’t know how I got here but my family must be worried”

“Of course- you’re in (random village name)”

“(Insert town name)?”

He nodded. Soza had the entire world map memorized, down to just about every city, village, landmark- you name it. But (insert town name)? Yeah, there was no such thing.

The man noticed her pensive silence. “Are you far from home miss..”

“Soza, sir. And yes...I’ve never heard of (insert town name). We’re still in the fire nation though, right?”

“Fire nation?”, Shinjuro asked.

Soza frowned. “Yes, the fire nation”

“I don’t what know where or what this fire nation is, but if you’re asking about the country, we are in Japan”, he replied. _Who didn’t know the fire nation?_ The hundred-year war did end a couple of years ago, but still. There were only four nations to remember after all.

“I-sorry if this is disrespectful, but the fire nation is one of the four nations in the entire world. I have never heard of Japan”

Shinjuro gave a thoughtful hum. “In that case, would you like to sleep for the night at my estate? I can assure you no harm will come upon you”, he said seriously.

“I believe you are far, far from home…”, he mused. _That would explain a lot_.

What did she have to lose? Soza nodded in affirmation. The man began walking and beckoned her to follow.

“When you restrained the demon, what was that?”

“Oh, that was lava bending”, Soza answered simply. 

“Lava..bending?” Soza nodded. “My uncle says I’m the first one in my family to lava bend, but a past fire nation avatar was able to lava bend in his time”

“Also, this avatar. You mentioned something about it when you were with the demon. What is it exactly?” Phew, her throat was going to be sore by the end of this conversation.

......

By the time they reached the well lit Rengoku estate, Shinjuro noticed how Soza was struggling to keep her eyes open. He smiled softly as he steered her into the Genoa. Soza leaned into his warm weight as he removed his shoes. Peering down at the young girl, he realized how similar she looked to his wife. Albeit, the girl had golden colored eyes like himself, but her skin tone, hair, and even her face reminded him of his beloved wife. Hopefully said wife had already tucked away their children for the night.

He slid the fusama open quietly before making his way into the halls. Soza remained quiet, exhaustion from the confusion and their talk catching up on her. She could faintly feel three other heat signatures, and some others further away, all warm and definitely human. Shinjuro lead her to an unoccupied room and signed for her to wait. She sleepily nodded, sitting in the middle of the room on her knees before she heard him call for a servant. The rest was a blur.

Soza had no idea why she was so exhausted, especially in a stranger’s home. Shinjuro had been nothing but patient and kind, but old habits died hard. She couldn’t trust or rely on him too much. She was in a new world (one with demons at that), leaving her vulnerable. Agni, fire bending wasn’t even normal here! Well bending in general to be precise. A world without bending…it was difficult to even comprehend. A world, she knew Ozai would despise. Good thing that man was imprisoned forever anyways.

After being cleaned and given some food, she crawled into the futon given to her. Once her head hit the pillow, she was out. Tomorrow she would decide where to go from here.

.....

"Deliever this letter to Oyakata-sama. It’s urgent”

Shinjuro’s craw cawed loudly, flying high into the night sky.

**Author's Note:**

> There's so many connections to the sun in KNY I thought it would be interesting to have a firebender si/oc in their world
> 
> So, obviously Kyojuro's mother isn't dead yet (neither has final selection happened for Sabito and Giyuu) and I say fuck canon so I'm keeping as little angst as possible
> 
> More about Soza (her backstory, being able to bend more sub-elements) and her talk with Shinjuro will be mentioned later!


End file.
